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NCP president Sharad Pawar meets PM Modi

The meeting took place amid reports over fissures in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra.

NCP president Sharad Pawar meets PM Modi

(File Photo: IANS)

Two days ahead of the monsoon session, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and talked for about 50 minutes, the Prime Minister’s Office said. “Rajya Sabha MP Shri Sharad Pawar met PM Narendra Modi,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.

The monsoon session of Parliament is beginning on 19 July.

The meeting took place amid reports over fissures in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra. On July 13, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that he has always been against Congress and the NCP politically.

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During the meeting which lasted for about 50 minutes, the veteran politician raised concerns about the newly-formed Ministry of Cooperation and farmers’ issues, sources in the NCP said.

Apart from meeting PM Modi, Mr. Pawar, 80, also wrote him a letter today, flagging concerns on the Ministry of Cooperation. He said the cooperative banking sector is a state subject. Citing Supreme Court judgments, he said that any attempt of interference by the centre will be a breach of the Constitution.

Earlier this week, the Rajya Sabha member had commented on the formation of the new Ministry of Cooperation a day before the mega reshuffle of PM Modi’s cabinet. He said laws for the cooperation sector had been framed in the Maharashtra assembly and that the centre has no right to interfere with legislation drafted by the state.

The Congress party and Sharad Pawar’s NCP are part of the MVA and allies of Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.

“Politically, I have been against Congress and the NCP, but this does not mean that I will call their good work in the government wrong. Neither I nor Balasaheb Thackeray thought this,” Uddhav Thackeray said.

Further, it has been observed that Sena has been seen warming up to the BJP – its former alliance partner. Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the BJP and Sena are “not enemies”, the two parties only have a difference of opinions.

(With inputs from IANS)

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